Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Gather your materials.
Step 2
Fold paper in half and draw bat shape.
Step 3
Cut out the bat.
Step 4
Add eyes and draw fangs.
Step 5
Glue a straw on the center of the bat.
Step 6
Fold a piece of string in half and thread it through the straw.
Step 7
Tape each end of the string to a wing.
Step 8
Pull down on the string.
Step 9
The bat’s wings flap!
Learn more
Unlike birds or insects, bats fly using what are essentially super-stretched hands! Inside a bat’s wing are tiny, lightweight arm bones and four incredibly long finger bones, all covered by a thin, flexible skin membrane called the patagium. Because a bat has so many jointed fingers hidden inside its wings, it can bend and twist them in midair to instantly change shape and direction. That high-level flexibility gives bats incredible control, letting them dive, do tight flips, and scoop up bugs on the fly with agility that leaves most feathered birds in the dust.
